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Tag Archives: attitude

The Lord called me from my warm and cozy bed to see the dawn. I must admit that I really wanted to sleep, but I could feel the pull of the Almighty saying, “I want to show you something.” I stood by my 3rd floor motel window and saw nothing but the city streetlights in the darkness. Then, all of a sudden, there was a tiny glow that grew bigger and bigger until I stood in awe once again of “the dawn’s early light.” I thought to myself, “Why don’t I get up for this at home?” In this same motel for years I have watched the sunrise and the sunset, and although it is not as unobstructed as I would like, it had in the past caused me to promise myself that I would at least check out sundowns at home. But I must admit that I only did it a couple of times, which were wonderful, but it never became a priority. Why? The word inconvenient came to mind. The sun gets up before I do, and the sun lowers in the sky when I am busy with other things. It happens when I am not noticing and then it is too late to catch.

Interestingly enough in this time period I had been pondering the time that Jesus called Continue reading →

How many times have you thought of Nehemiah? Do you remember who he is and what he did? The verse, “The joy of the Lord is your strength,” popped into my head the other day. I wasn’t sure where to find it, but after checking it out I found it in the midst of Nehemiah’s story. (Neh. 8:10) I then checked out that verse in other Bible translations and was surprised that they were all exactly the same except for the Amplified Bible which only added “and stronghold” to your strength. It seems if we want strength for our daily walk we need to receive “the joy of the Lord” or is it “the joy in the Lord?” Let’s look at Nehemiah for a moment to see if we can get some insights into this. Continue reading →

In my 70 years of life I haven’t thought much about sunrises (as I usually have slept past them) and sunsets (that come during a time I always seem to be busy about other things.) My house windows do not capture the sunrises and sunsets. But on our vacation to Florida the Lord woke me up each day to sit on the sofa, and watch, out of the large windows, the sun rise in the east over the lake and set in the west over that same lake. It was a spectacular 16 day event and spoke to me of so many scriptural truths.

I could have missed it all if I hadn’t been tuned to the Lord’s voice for me at this time. The vacation certainly didn’t start out in a spectacular way. The day we Continue reading →

After 430 years of slavery the Israelites were led out of Egypt by Moses only to be caught between the flood waters of the Red Sea and the Egyptian chariots bearing down on them. In a moment God intervened and rolled the waters up on either side, dried the river bed, and caused the people to walk (or maybe it was run) across unto dry land. Then God waited until the whole Egyptian army was in the river bed and then rolled the waters over them completely destroying the army and their king. Exodus 15 tells the story of Moses beginning the worship service by singing and then later Miriam leading the women in singing and dancing and rejoicing with their tambourines. The question I have is “Where did the tambourines come from?” They must have been readily accessible. When the Israelite women were packing in a hurry to leave Egypt they must have been scared. They knew what the Egyptians were capable of, they saw what God was capable of, and they were leaving to go to go where? So what did the women think while they were packing that caused them to put the tambourines on top? This was a people who hadn’t seen God move their whole lives until now and how did they know that they might need a tambourine, an instrument of rejoicing? Continue reading →

When circumstances in our lives disappoint us, let’s work to not be tempted to be disappointed in God. Let’s say like Job: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb and naked shall I return there; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:21 NKJV) In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrong doing.” (Job 1:22 NIV)

Whose report are we going to believe? Is God good all the time or not? James 5:11 says, “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” When trouble comes remember the attributes of God, that He is: merciful, compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, full of goodness, love, and truth, faithful and forgiving. Although our circumstances may be disappointing refuse to be disappointed in God. Faith believes that when trouble comes God’s goodness will show up. Continue reading →

As I studied the goodness of God and thought about Him being good all the time in my life I remembered the times when I was disappointed with God in the circumstances that I was in. In those times I know that I had believed and had faith that He would come and rescue me, heal me, or keep me from harm, but it didn’t feel like He did. I still loved the Lord, but I had to admit that I was disappointed that He did not intervene as I thought that He would. I remember how amazed I was when I heard a pastor say that he had never been disappointed by God. Whoa, I couldn’t say that and at that moment I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit over me. The Lord then led me to some of His scriptural promises. Continue reading →

While watching a potter at Mumford Village with my granddaughter I was reminded of some pottery scriptures I had a love- hate relationship with years ago. Isaiah talks of God our Father being the potter and we being the clay. (Is. 64:8) I must tell you that I really wanted to be the potter of my own clay, but found that all my efforts to change the pot I was made into didn’t have the lasting and beautiful effect that I was hoping for, especially when you combine this scripture with the one found in Romans. “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” (Rom. 9:21) When I read this scripture I wanted to be made into the pot that was created for noble, or the way I read it, special, important, valuable use. It has taken me years to surrender to the pot He was making me into and being content with that. Continue reading →

My 4 year old granddaughter likes to play with the magnets on the refrigerator. One day she finished playing with them and said, “Grandma, look a smile!” She had arranged all the magnets into a smiley face. I’ve left them like that as sometimes with all the worries of this life I need to remember to smile. Years ago, when I taught in a public school, I decided that not only would I enjoy and smile with my class, but each time I ventured out to walk the halls I purposely put on a smile to greet whoever I met there. It made a difference in my attitude and the Continue reading →